Women in Film: Ava DuVernay

She’s got something to say, in award-winning ways.

By Haroon Adalat | March 12, 2018

Even though she never attended film school and didn't even pick up a camera until she was in her thirties, Ava DuVernay, celebrated director of Selma, 13th, and Middle of Nowhere, has racked up quite a slate of impressive milestone achievements: She was the first black woman to win the director’s prize at Sundance, earn a Golden Globe nomination, and an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination — and many felt she should have been nominated for Best Director as well. She is also the first woman of color to direct a live-action film with a production budget over 100 million dollars, for the upcoming release A Wrinkle in Time. And, she is the namesake of the DuVernay Test, a recent and necessary update of the Bechdel Test. Is there anything she can’t do? In this video, you’ll get to know a little bit more about the woman behind all of the watershed moments.